Sunday, May 7, 2017

Confessions of a Leadly Sinner

Orlygg’s recent
post of theLeadly Sins of figure
collecting sent me down the path of reflection.Thanks Orlygg!It was a brilliant
post as well as unsettling since I was guilty of many.As a good Catholic boy, I feel compelled to
confess, forgive me Father Orlygg for I have sinned! Let the beatings begin!

1. Sharing “Look
what I have got” bragging posts

Yes, guilty as
charged!But I confess to only a
misdemeanor not pre-mediated bragging.I’ve had several posts, mainly my “Used Bookstore Goodness” where I have
stumbled upon some hidden gem or lost treasure from my youth.I haven’t intended to brag so much but more
to say “hey look what I have found and oh by the way you can do it too!”I have also posted the eBay win or two that
were reasonable in price to point out that there are actually reasonable people
who aren’t totally deluded when it comes to pricing mins.What’s reasonable penance, a couple of “Hail
Jes Goodwin’s?”

2. Photographing
masses of unpainted lead

Yes he says
shamefully lowering his head, refusing to make eye contact.So I have done this a couple of times, mainly
with the arrival of a new Kickstarter pledge or eBay win.Why you ask, simple.I just haven’t built up a rhythm to my
painting so I don’t have any painted results. I go a couple of days mad at it
then weeks pass before I pick up the brush again.Further complicating matters is that my paint
inventory is woefully old and out of date.To be honest I need to invest in a large quantity of paints and
inks.It is all too convenient an excuse to
say “oh I’d like to paint that Titillating Pink, oops that pots all dried up
guess I’ll have to wait until I get a new one...” and set the figure aside and
it languishes for months before I get around to buying new paint.This sin is totally on me and with this
confession hopefully I can get back into a steady paint schedule.

3. Being too
absorbed in my own collecting

I think I can
plead innocent to this one.Now I don’t
know that this is a conscious effort or a result of my totally ADD approach to
collecting.To many times I have been in
the middle of a project, saw something shinny and new to me and jumped into
it.This is another contributor to sin
#2 since I jump from project to project without completing one.Often times just looking at someone else’s
collection inspires me to either copy it or attempt something similar.Great, dodged a few acts of contrition there!

4. Buying up
hordes of figures and then storing them away

Damn, must admit
to another one!Yes, again due to my
lack of painting I have a few boxes of lead that have been shoved away for that
magical time of someday as in “Oh I’ll get to that project someday in the
future.”I mentioned to Orlygg earlier that
I visited England in 89 and purchased a load of lead, and I admit without pride
that some of it is still unpainted to this day!I hit 50 this year and have decided to get serious about take one of two
approaches; either paint it or be rid of it since someday may never arrive!

5. Obsessing over
the acquisition of certain models

Another
misdemeanor confession on this one.I’m
very much the tight ass when it comes to money which counter acts the obsessing
over too many figures. I may obsess over wanting a figure but I won’t part with
the cash to acquire it!I do however
snap them up when they are a reasonable deal.My only real obsession has been trying to collect all the ROC Champions
of Khorne from the 89 catalogue page and the C23 Ogres by Jes Goodwin.I only need two miniatures to complete the ROC Khorne Champions, one of which is readily available at reasonable prices and
the other at outrageous prices that I simply won’t pay.Does that make me guilty of the obsessing
sin?

6. Not organizing
enough meet ups or games with fellow Oldhammerers

Yep, don’t have
the population base in my small town to have enough people to get together and
it’s a college town so what base I would be able to organize probably presents
too much of a generational gap to bridge.Not sure I have the energy to deal with it anyways. So I guess that is another one for the Please Forgive Me list. I do hope to someday make it to BOYL over in England. We shall see.

7. Not
encouraging others

Nope, not taking
the hit on this one!Joking aside, I
hope that I have been encouraging to others.I try to take the opportunity, even if it is just a +1 on Google+ or
quick comment when I’m impressed with someone’s work.Orlygg is an orator extraordinaire, Matthew
and Whisky Priest are paint slinging artists, Steve Casey is the historian par
none, and Chico exemplifies seeing projects through to completion.Pillars of the Oldhammer community that if I
haven’t mentioned before, I truly appreciate their contributions.

So not too guilty
but enough that I do feel the burden of contrition.With that said I will try for the next month
to only post painted or WIP photos of mins, no piles of unpainted lead.

About Me

I'm a late 40's gamer that grew up in the golden age of miniatures and RPGs in the 80's. I cut my teeth on the likes of TSR's 2nd edition D&D and AD&D, SJG's pocket editions of OGRE and Car Wars and the glorious 3rd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Rogue Trader from GWS. Long live the games and hair metal of the 80's!